point. Let’s outline exactly what the structure is, so that the problems with
the ending are made perfectly clear, because there are problems.
1) Organic life will eventually create synthetic life.
2) Synthetic life will eventually destroy all organic life.
These are the two rules of the Mass Effect universe. Perhaps in the short-term they can fluctuate, perhaps the Quarians can destroy the Geth and retake their homeworld, for example. But in the larger scheme of things, over a long enough period, these two rules hold true.
An organic race comes to this conclusion far in the past, millions of years ago. They see their galaxy burning, wars between man and machine repeating themselves over and over. They realize that something must be done to stop this.
So they create a test. A test for both organics and synthetics, for the entire galaxy. This test is called the Catalyst,
and its purpose is to ensure that all life has a place in the galaxy and that it has evolved to the point where it can co-exist peacefully.
To carry out the test, they create an advanced race of sentient machines called the Reapers. Immeasurably powerful, without sympathy or mercy, they are an unstoppable army that has but one purpose: to cleanse the galaxy of most, but not all, sentient life before it destroys itself completely in the fires of war. The Reapers preserve life by stopping it from destroying itself entirely. We are your salvation through destruction.
This Catalyst test has only one win condition. Only one way for the cycle of experimentation to end. This is the Crucible. The ancient race that built the Catalyst, that built the Mass Relays and built the Reapers, they also designed the Crucible. A machine so vast that it could only be built by combined arms, that was so
complex it could only be understood by looking to the past and learning from the mistakes of old. A device that could only ever be implemented by a union of all beings against their common foe: the Reapers.
The Reapers were told to stop at nothing to prevent the Crucible from being deployed. Therefore the only way to build it, to understand it and to use it is to rally the entire galaxy under one banner, a banner of peace and
co-operation. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as they say, and the Reapers are an enemy to all.
If the Crucible is combined with the Catalyst, the Reapers having been overcome, the races of the galaxy are deemed worthy. Their ascension is complete. They have evolved the ability to work together, to overcome great challenges and understand one another, sharing the galaxy as brothers in arms.
The only way to deploy the Crucible in Mass Effect 3 is to achieve a high war assets score. The only way to achieve a high enough score is by uniting races across the galaxy. You cannot win alone, the Systems Alliance will only net you around 1200 war assets at best. This is not enough.
You need the Turians, the Salarians. You need the Quarians and the Geth. The little fragments of technology from the Protheans, the Terminus pirates and the all of the scattered human soldiers. Specialists from as many races as possible must be used or you will not achieve a high enough war assets score. You will not pass the Catalyst test because the galaxy must be united for it to defeat the Reapers. This is their purpose, this is why
they were created so long ago.
At the end of Mass Effect 3, if you have enough resources, if you have amassed enough allies, you can successfully deploy the Crucible, passing the test and ensuring the galaxy’s survival.
The Catalyst saves Shepard from death and offers him three final choices. Three ways the galaxy can move forward having passed the test. Three rewards for its efforts.
The three choices are:
1) Control the Reapers. Send them back to dark space, allowing the combined races of the galaxy to choose their own destiny, whatever that may be, while keeping a backup just in case.
2) Destroy the Reapers. Remove the Catalyst test from the galaxy, declaring that you are good enough to survive no matter what. No backup is needed, life has found a way.
3) Synthesize organic and machine life together, removing the need for any worry or strife ever again, removing
the problem entirely.
Theoretically, any of these choices could be an acceptable choice.
A renegade would destroy the Reapers, secure in his knowledge that the test itself was infallible. That passing it was an accurate determination of the capability of all life in the galaxy. He’s good enough, he doesn’t need a Plan B. The future is what we make of it, screw the consequences.
A paragon would control the Reapers, sending them away and allowing the galaxy to enjoy its earned freedom, while also understanding that the future is uncertain, that circumstances could change warranting their return. Ultimately, this means The Illusive Man was good after all, and that the Reapers had to indoctrinate him to prevent the end.
A mixed-alignment character would synthesize the organic and machine life. This is saying that the problem is too complex to ever be solved in its current form. You are altering the rules of the game, you’re cheating your way out of a tough situation. If organic life will always create synthetics, and synthetics will always destroy organics, simply remove both from the equation to end the chaos.
The Catalyst never accounted for this final choice until it saw how you defeated the Reapers. Man and machine, together as one. The ultimate solution to the problem that the Catalyst was created to solve in the first place. No more uncertainty, no more possibility of war between the two beings. A perfect resolution.
Everything up to this point is perfect. It has cohesion, it has a great philosophical slant to it. It also has consistency with the rest of the series, explaining just enough about the Reapers without making them seem trite or pathetic. It
ties in with the mechanics of the game also, merging the experience in a way few other games have. This is all good.
Having the Mass Relays be destroyed is also fine. The fiction has already outlined that travel between systems without the relays is possible, just much slower. Furthermore, it ties in with the themes of self-determination that run throughout the game.
Sure, it strands the armada ships in the Sol system. Times would be tough immediately following their destruction, for sure. But that’s the point. The races would build their own future, just as Legion wanted the Geth to do. They would build their own Mass Relays. They would forge the galaxy under their own design instead of the ones laid out by the Reapers.
The one problem with the ending is the Normandy crashing on an alien world. This is what has soured the experience for so many. All of the rest, all of the above, is deep and meaningful, and takes time to mull over. But it is consistent. And conclusive. It provides a satisfying closure to the series and caps a strong
story well.
Having the Normandy crash undoes a lot of this. It changes the tone of the ending radically. Instead of ending on a feeling of hope. Instead of looking to a future free from the cycle of destruction, with a sense of wonder and endless possibility, you are left with a feeling of hopelessness. The characters you have grown to love and admire over hundreds of hours of gameplay are tossed aside as though they are completely meaningless. We see only a few of them stepping out of the ship, and only for a brief moment.
It leaves the game with a tone of anxiety. With unknowing. It should have ended on hope. It should have shown Earth being slowly rebuilt. It should have shown the races of the galaxy working together to reconnect their civilizations. It should have shown them building their future, together, having overcome the Reapers and beaten the Catalyst test.
Instead, we are left with a note of annoyance. Shepard is possibly alive or dead, depending on how many allies you accrued, so too is Anderson. The Normandy is cast aside like so much trash, as though it was an afterthought.
The ending felt rushed. It felt cut short. The flawless way it built to the Catalyst and the method by which you get to choose the future of the galaxy, all undone by not showing the results of that choice. We do not get to see people coming to terms with building their own future. We do not see Tali planting seeds on Rannoch, or Wrex cradling his newborn son. We don’t get to see Garrus helping to rebuild Palaven, or Liara helping out on Thessia. Scenes of rebirth, scenes of construction, tying into the idea that the galaxy has won the war, now it gets to determine what happens next.
No, we are left with the uncertainty of a confusing ending. More questions raised in the final ten seconds than in the final ten hours. What planet has the Normandy landed on? Did they all survive? Who is the Stargazer and why is he seemingly on the same planet so many years later? These are questions that should never have been posed. Questions that nullify any sense of closure the previous thirty hours of gameplay might have provided. They throw you for a loop. They radically change the tone of the final moments, seemingly for no gain.
What is gained by having the Normandy crash? The one thing we care most about in the series is sent flying into the stars to a place we’ve never seen before, for a hundred years or more judging by the post-credits sequence. It was needlessly confusing and annoying. It should be changed.
It’s cliché, perhaps, but there should have been an ending montage, showing the reconstruction. There should have been a sense of closure, of satisfaction. That all your efforts were not in vain. I spent hundreds of hours connecting with my crew, working to gain their loyalty and helping them out. For what? For random events to cast them into the unknown? For the Gods of Fate to see their end, not me?
No thankyou. You can only destroy the relays if you show what happens next. You can only crash the Normandy is you show what happens next. These two things annoy everyone because they are left open ended, leaving me to conclude that a ‘Reconnection DLC’ is in the works outlining post-war reconstruction of the galaxy and the discovery of the Normandy on an alien world with hooks for a new plotline, like ancient ruins or something.
It should not have ended on confusion. Tie off those loose ends before you start new threads. End with a sense of satisfaction and anticipation, not confusion and annoyance.
Modifié par SomeBug, 09 mars 2012 - 10:46 .
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